Acta Poloniae Histories 77, 1998 Discussions PL ISSN 0001 - 6829 Michał Kopczyński THE NOBILITY AND THE STATE IN THE 16th—18th CENTURIES. THE SWEDISH MODEL (in connection with Jan Samuelson’s book Aristokrat eller förädlad bonde ? Det svenska frälsets ekonomi, politik och sociala förbindelser under tiden 1523-1611, Lund University Press 1993, 361 pp. Bibliotheca Historica Lundensis 77) What characterized the early modern social structures in the Scandinavian countries was a low percentage of nobility. In 17th century Denmark the nobility accounted for about 0,5 per cent of the population, in Sweden it did not exceed 1 per cent. This, as well as the early development of the state fiscal and control apparatus in Sweden, the fact that sources have survived ina perfect state and that Swedish genealogical studies have a long-standing tradition, makes it possible to reconstruct the effective force, financial status and family connections not only of the aristocracy but also of the petty nobility. Many studies have appeared in Sweden on the genesis of the nobility, its transformations in the 17th century and the change in its social and political functions in the 17th-19th centuries1. The 16th century has been a blank space. Detailed studies have dealt with the noblemen’s privi­ leges, the endowment of estates by the Crown, and the nobility’s political 1 See I.M. Munktell, Gods, godsägare och landbor 1450-1520. Studier i de senmedeltida frälsegodsens funktion, Göteborg 1982; I. E l mroth‚ För kung och fosterland. Studier i den svenska adelns demografi och offentliga funktioner 1600-1900, Lund 1981; P. E. Fahlbeck, Sveriges adel. Statistik undersökning öfver de a riddarhuset introducerade ätterna, Göteborg 1898; K. Å g r e n ‚ Breadwinners and Dependants. An Economic Crisis during the 1600s?, in: Aristocrats, Farmers, Proletarians, ed. K. Åg r e n et al., U ppsala 1973; S. C a r I s s o n ‚ Ståndssamhälle och ståndpersoner 1700-1865. Studier rörande del svenska ståndsscunhällets upplösning, Lund 1973. For Denmark sec the fundamental work by S. A. Hansen, Adelsvaeldens grundlag, København 1964. http://rcin.org.pl 112 MICHAŁ KOPCZYŃSKI stance2. Monographs characterizing the Finnish nobility as a social group have also been published as well as studies on the economic status of the nobility in some Swedish provinces3. What was missing was a comprehen­ sive characterization of the nobility’s financial base, its internal fragmenta­ tion, and the influence exerted by the state in this respect. Partial studies on individual professional groups (e.g. the military) could not fill the gap4. Jan Samuelson wanted to present a comprehensive picture of the noble estate in his work. The book consists of three parts. In the first, which deals with the elite, the author examines financial differences within the noble estate and singles out the political and the social elite. In the second part he discusses the petty nobility, analyzing the cases of noblemen losing their rank and the ways of joining the estate. The third part concerns the hardly perceptible clientage ties, which have practically not yet been researched. The publication of this valuable book makes it possible to present the anatomy of the Swedish noble estate in the modem era more fully. As has been said above, the Swedish nobility was not a numerous group. In the 16th century it consisted of some 500-550 adult men. It can be presumed that together with women and children it consisted of no more than 3,000-4,000 persons, that is, 0,4-0,6 per cent of the total population, which amounted to about 750,000 at that time. Its distribution was not even. Military registers show that in Sweden proper there were some 280-300 landowners whose land was exempt from taxation (frälsejord); they lived in the southern and west-central parts of the country. Another 200-240 lived in Finland; these were mostly poor noblemen living in the south-western part of the country. There was no nobility in the other regions. Incidentally, the author has established that during the period he investigated out of about 2,000 men who reached maturity 170 died a sudden death (executions, wars and tragic accidents). The Finnish nobility was painfully hit by the conflict over the crown between Sigismund and Charles, duke of Södermanland, over 50 persons, that is, 20 percent of the Finnish nobility, being put to death during the conflict in 1590—1611 (mainly in executions). 2 S. Jägerskiöld, Adelsprivile gier i Sverige och Danmark, ”llistorisk Tidskrift” 1934; S. A. Nilsson, Kampen om de adliga privilegierna 1526-1594, Lund 1952; idem, Krona och frälse i Sverige 1523-1594, Lund 1947; K. Strömberg-Back, Lagen, ratten, läran, Lund 1963; also Kalmare standgor 1587, Umea 1989. 3 E. Anthon i, Finlands medeltida frälse och 1500-tals adel, Helsingsfors 1970; O. Ferm, De högadliga godsen i Sverige vid 1500-talets milt: geografisk uppbyggnad, räntestruktur, gods- drift och hushållning, Stockholm 1990; J. A. A l mq u i s t , Frälsegodsen i Sverige under storhet- stiden, vols. I-IV, Stockholm 1931-1976. 4 O fficerrs were a subject discussed by, among others: G. Artéus, Till militärstatens förhistoria. Krig, profesionallisering och social förändring under Vasasönernas regering, Stock­ holm 1986; S. A. Nilsson, På väg mot militärstaten. Krigsbefälets etablering i den äldre Vasatidens Sverige, Uppsala 1989. http://rcin.org.pl NOBILITY AND STATE IN SWEDEN, 16th-18th C. 113 The 17th century, the period of Sweden’s greatness, brought far-reach­ ing changes in the numerical strength of the noble estate, owing mainly to mass ennoblements (see Table 1). Table 1. Numerical Strength of the Swedish Nobility 1600-1895 (adult men) Year Number of persons Old Nobility New Nobility* 1600 450 450 _ 1650 1000 500 500 1700 2500 550 1950 1750 3000 550 2450 1800 3600 700 2900 1850 3600 700 2900 1895 4000 800 3200 ’New nobility: families ennobled after 1600. Source: I. E l mrot h , For kung och fosterland, p. 42. As a result of mass ennoblements, the old nobility accounted for only 50 per cent of the noble estate in the middle of the 17th century, that is, during the domination of oligarchic trends in Sweden’s political system, and for a mere 20 per cent at the beginning of Charles XII’s reign. Ennoblements reached the largest proportions when Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years’ War. In 1630-1639 they increased twenty-fold compared with the 1600- 1619decade, from 11 to 243, to stabilize at about 170 per decade in the years 1660-1679. The introduction of absolutism in 1680 increased the number of ennoblements to over 200 per decade, and in 1700-1790 another 559 families joined the noble estate. In the 18th century, as a result of countless discussions on new ennoblements, the average number of families raised to the rank of nobility oscillated between 20 and 140 per decade5. This large inflow of new people was due to the expansion of the army and the state administration. The heavy losses suffered by the officers’ corps were not insignificant either. This group suffered the greatest hecatombe during the Great Northern War, when more than 1,000 noble officers met their deaths6. Another reason for the mass ennoblements was that by virtue of the privi­ leges which Johan III was forced to grant to the nobility in 1569, the noble estate gained monopoly in appointments to most offices. This monopoly lasted throughout the era of Sweden’s greatness and was confirmed in the new privileges granted in 1719. Following a discussion in the Riksdag, this principle was modified in 1723. The highest offices (members of the Council of State, presidents of collegia, and palatines — landshövdingar) remained 5 I. Elmroth, op. cit., p. 40. 6 S. Carlsson, “Manga tappra drängar ha fått sitt banesar. ”Den svenskaadelns personella förluster under stora nordiska kri get, in: Bland böcker och mä miskor, Uddevalla 1983. http://rcin.org.pl 114 MICHAŁ KOPCZYŃSKI the nobility’s monopoly while other nominations were to be made irrespec­ tive of parentage7. In the 17th century, a young man aspiring to the noble rank usually started his career in the army or the civil service. When he obtained the rank of major or lieutenant colonel or became secretary in a central office, ennoblement was automatic. In the second generation 70-80 percent of the new nobility followed in the footsteps of the old families and chose a military career. This enormous disproportion was the result of the conviction that service in the army was the nobleman’s principal function. The Oxenstier­ nas’ Cassandran forecasts that unless young noblemen chose civil service as a career the likes of those who ruled under Charles IX would return to power, were of no avail; the poems of Georg Stiernhielm, who put learning and proficiency in clerical work on a par with other virtues charac­ teristic of the nobility, did not help either8. The second and successive generations of the new nobility imitated also the old families’ procreative behaviour and avoided early marriages, which resulted in a lower fertility9. In this way the chain was closed and new ennoblements were therefore necessary. Let us point out that the military career retained its popularity among the nobility despite the rule introduced by Charles XI that service in the army should always start with the rank of private. Aristocrats would sometimes get round this regulation by starting their career abroad; only when they were promoted to the rank of colonel did they return to Sweden to take up an officer’s duties10. The situation was more difficult in the administration, for service as an unpaid clerk lasted 8-10 years in the 18th century; the young man had then to pass through all the successive grades of civil service.